PALM TREES AND POWER LINES
Starring: Lily McInerny and Jonathan Tucker
Director: Jamie Dack
PAIGE
Palm Trees and Power Lines is a bold and gripping cautionary tale that delivers a glimpse of how vulnerability can be deceived in a manipulated relationship. Its sensitive subject matter is directed incredibly well by Jamie Dack, who makes this unsettling material feel grounded and raw. The film is certainly a hard watch, but it can’t go unseen. It has incredible performances from its two leads, Lily McInerny and Jonathan Tucker, who are able to convey such powerful and emotional depictions of the cruel reality surrounding how a predator can be portrayed in this modern day and age.
JACOB
While comparisons to Red Rocket are certainly warranted and somewhat inevitable, Palm Trees and Power Lines still manages to hold its own as a female-driven perspective on sexual predation. There’s not anything especially new about it, nor does it have much else to say on the subject, but the strong performances from Lily McInerny and Jonathan Tucker hold it together well. Its biggest issue – apart from lack of novelty – is how it doesn’t give much dimensionality to most of its supporting characters, especially in the case of Gretchen Mol. That said, this is an admirable directorial debut from Jamie Dack.
